In connection with woven and knitted articles, it is often necessary to bind the free edges of the article to prevent unraveling thereof. This is particularly important in connection with knitted articles in which one or more yarns are loosely knitted together and can become easily unraveled unless the edges thereof are bound in some manner. For example, knitted gloves typically include a cuff which is knitted integrally with the hand portion of the glove. The upper edge of the cuff must be bound in a manner which prevents unraveling of the glove.
One prior approach to binding the cuff edge involves sewing the cuff edge in a second machine operation following the first machine operation of knitting the glove. This approach to the problem, while quite effective, is expensive in terms of labor and the additional equipment needed to perform the sewing operation.
Another approach to binding the cuff edge involves the use of heat activatable thermoplastic yarns used in the cuff edge which can be melted by the application thereto of heat and thereby bind the cuff edge. The cuff edge used in this construction consists of a single end of yarn having an outer covering of thermoplastic material. The single yarn end is knitted together to form the edge. Upon application of heat to the thermoplastic yarn, bonds are formed at the crossover points of the yarn. In a more recent approach to binding the cuff edge which is described and claimed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14,946, filed Feb. 16, 1987, and assigned to the assignee of the present application, the cuff edge is formed by a knitted combination of thermoplastic and nonthermoplastic yarns. Upon application of heat to the cuff edge, the thermoplastic yarn melts and become bonded to the nonthermoplastic yarn. This latter approach is superior to previous techniques for numerous reasons, but, as in prior art constructions, it is necessary to apply heat to the cuff edge at the proper temperature for a preselected duration.
Various types of methods and apparatus are well-known in the art for applying heat to knitted and woven articles for the purpose of "setting" the yarns and melting thermoplastic yarns. In connection with the "finishing" of glove cuff edges employing thermoplastic material, commercially available machines have been employed, such as the Model SH-100 High Speed Finishing Machine manufactured by Shima Seiki of Wakayama, Japan. The Shima Seiki machine is a relatively complicated and expensive, stand-alone unit. It includes a conveyor on which gloves are manually placed after they are knitted on a conventional knitting machine. The conveyor moves the unfinished gloves through a heated area in the machine in order to melt the thermoplastic yarns in the cuff edge. The use of such machines possesses several disadvantages. First, they are stand-alone units, require a substantial amount of space, are complicated and therefore subject to breakdown and are quite expensive. Secondly, these machines cannot automatically receive gloves which are knitted serially by the glove knitting machine. It is therefore necessary for an operator to accumulate and transfer gloves from the knitting machine to the area of the finishing machine, and thereafter hand feed the finishing machine. This, of course, is costly in terms of labor.
The present invention is intended to overcome each of the shortcomings of the prior art mentioned above.